By Erin Kraal Next Book: Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College by Peter Felten and Leo Lambert Missed Reading #1? Check it out! Who this book is for: Readers who enjoy personal stories and interviews Anyone on campus—not just faculty—who interacts with students Those concerned about students who don’t take advantage of opportunities Advocates for special populations First Year Seminar (FYS), First-Gen, TRIO, PROFs, etc.) Someone looking f

By Erin Kraal As a child of the ’80s, I’ve never outgrown the summer reading program. I remember earning prizes—such as personal pan pizzas—for tackling a stack of books over the summer. This summer, I’m diving into a big stack of pedagogy and faculty development books that have been piling up in my office. I’ll be sharing short reviews focused on their relevance to the KU community. Maybe one will make your future reading list, or offer something helpful right now. How many

By Erin Kraal While mid-semester is a great time for big-picture reflection and course adjustments, meaningful learning also happens in the small moments during class. Quick, low-prep activities can reinforce key concepts, encourage engagement, and help students develop effective learning strategies. The following five-minute exercises require little to no preparation but can make a big impact by fostering critical thinking, collaboration, and deeper connections to the course

By Susanna Molitoris-Miller Every faculty member appreciates a go-to student who will dependably raise their hand and likely have the...

By Erin Kraal, CEL Faculty Director Our learners are the center of an empathy map. Originally part of “design thinking,” an empathy map is a visualization tool designed to help build understanding about a user’s — or learner’s — experience.  They are widely used by businesses and in human-computer interaction.  In Higher Education, empathy maps help us understand student experiences in specific learning environments. In short, empathy maps are reflective visual depictions of

by Michael Covello Autobiography and Inquiry   A recent CEL journal post from Dottoressa Leslie Sotomayor discussed “testimonios” and...

by Dra. Leslie C. Sotomayor II In theorizing lived experiences, I employ Gloria Anzaldúa’s autohistoria-teoría as a decolonizing lens...

by Erin Kraal, CEL Faculty Director Do you keep careful, organized, reflective teaching notes throughout the semester in a searchable...

By Sandi Leonard As an academic, I have been trained to be at least somewhat critical of anything that describes itself as exhaustive...

by Amy Lynch-Biniek While I teach writing, I thought a great deal about reading as I navigated the Universal Design for Learning class....

By Sally Hyatt Completing CEL’s Basics of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Certificate Program allowed me to build a more inclusive pedagogy for my students. Just before I completed the certificate program, ChatGPT became universally available, and this sparked a desire for me to also adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) within my classes. Being exposed to both AI and UDL for the first time allowed for a unique opportunity to introduce an assignment that adopted each within

By Jen Suwak The Spring 2023 CEL Basics of Universal Design course was very helpful in conceptualizing small changes to course content...

A personal experience utilizing universal design for learning to empower learning.